Spine Poems

A few poems I posted on Twitter lately that I made using the spines of picture books. Enjoy!

Dear diary,

I want to be the night gardener,

outside,

finding wild sidewalk flowers

stuck over and under the snow,

just because.

Wherever you go

Please bring balloons

Just in case you want to fly

Up, down, and around—In the sky

At nighttime

Like a dandelion Under the lemon moon

Imagine if you had a jetpack—

Whoosh!

Higher! Higher!

Faster! Faster!

Yes, let’s run wild reaching for the

moon,

stars,

life on mars—

The most magnificent thing.

Like Miss Rumphius

Last spring when I was giving away extra dahlia tubers a friend told me I reminded her of Miss Rumphius.

Best compliment ever! And coincidentally, or maybe not, that book is one of my favorite books of all time. “You must do something to make the world more beautiful,” reads a line in the book. And Miss Rumphius does.

I set aside my Very Important Work this past week to play. To work through some anxious feelings of uncertainty. I made this art piece. And it helped. But still, this is just how life is with the pandemic: lots of uncomfortable uncertainty.

My dahlia garden

Yet, I realized, here’ a certain thing: I am someone who does what I can to make the world more beautiful. I always have been. I’m certain I always will be. Maybe you are too? If so, Hi! During this very uncertain time, I’m leaning on this small certain beautiful practice of mine. And it’s helping. Maybe you can too.

Home sweet home

Also, flowers make everything better.

Happy World Read Aloud Day! And where to order a signed copy of my book

Happy World Read Aloud Day! Welcome to any students, teachers, or families who are visiting my website after I visit your classrooms! I’m always grateful to chat about writing and to read with kids. If you have follow-up questions, please feel free to email me!

And for any families or teachers who want to order my book, THE ELEPHANTS’ GUIDE TO HIDE-AND-SEEK, I’ve made arrangements with my local bookstore, Village Books, to sign copies for anyone who orders through Feb 12th. You can order at this link—when you check out make a note in the comments about how you would like your book personalized or who you would like it signed to.

Thanks for visiting my website! Make sure you check out my section with fun stuff for kids. Happy reading!

Sign up for World Read-Aloud Day!

My name is Kjersten Hayes and I love talking books with kids. I look forward to sharing my picture book THE ELEPHANTS' GUIDE TO HIDE-AND-SEEK with classrooms during World Read-Aloud Day on Feb. 3, 2021. Hooray for read-alouds! Teachers or librarians interested in signing up for a free 20-minute virtual classroom visit can get more information and sign-up here. Thanks!

A Tribute to Ruth Bader Ginsburg

“Reading is the key that opens doors to many good things in life. Reading shaped my dreams, and more reading helped me make my dreams come true.” —Ruth Bader Ginsburg ⠀

My life is better because of the many rights Ruth Bader Ginsburg argued for, fought for, and helped realize—this is why, a few weeks ago while mourning her passing, I made a piece of cut paper art to honor her. I based it on the beautiful lace collars she wore as a Supreme Court Justice. After I shared it on social media, things took off in a way I didn’t anticipate or expect. A few friends asked if I might be willing to sell prints, and from there it snowballed and Etsy orders poured in from all over the country. As I’m finally catching up, I thought I’d remember to post it on my blog too. Along with some resources and links as food for thought.

And, a friend who wanted to see t-shirts, library totes, and sticker versions of my RBG art made them happen—the order form is here (orders due 10/23/20). A portion of the proceeds will go to Page Ahead, a literacy organization in Seattle that gets books in the hands of kids in lower-income areas.

Links:

• To buy my art: prints, cards, and paper cutouts can be found in my Etsy shop, and also a one-time order a friend arranged for t-shirts and library totes here through 10/23/20 [edited to add that we are doing a second t-shirt/tote order, orders accepted through 11/12/20].

• If you are unaware of the rights RBG helped realize, this article from Refinery29 is an easy-to-read article that highlights her contributions. We take these rights for granted now but they are important.

• The NYT obit for RBG covers her accomplishments more throughly but still doesn’t take long to read.

• A reading list from A Mighty Girl, mostly for kids.

• A fantastic Radiolab episode dedicated to one of RBG’s cases.

• The RBG movie, which I highly recommend.

• And, I want to keep it real by highlighting a critique that a thoughtful friend brought up about a lack of diversity in RBG’s hiring and mentoring. It’s essential that as we celebrate RBG, we also acknowledge that we have a long way to go. RBG has become a mighty icon for good reason but she was not perfect. I’m grateful for invitations to do better, while still honoring her legacy. I hope others will also be open to that same invitation.

One more thing about reading:

As an author, when I write stories, I know that once I hand them off, half the job is then up to the reader. Kids get a similar story from the same book, but the experience differs somewhat depending on readers’ experiences and what they bring to the story themselves. Reading is a sacred exchange in that way. This is also how words evolve and grow over time. This is how the Constitution lives on. Because of us. And what we bring to it. This is how language works. RBG showed the sacred way words can stay alive. She showed the Constitution’s vitality. Let’s make sure we work, fight, and vote, to keep it alive.

Storystorm!

Sometimes I go to the bookstore having already spent my book budget for the month. I do this because I cannot resist bookstores. Whenever this happens I find myself wondering, why oh why am I doing this to myself? I know I'm going to buy a book—probably more than one. And perhaps even one of those books will NOT even be a picture book. And then not only am I being bad with my budget I'm also going to want to read that long non-picture-book book RIGHT NOW! Only inevitably I will already have a stack as big as my leg (or possibly larger) of non-picture-book books I want to read RIGHT NOW. Also, didn't I just do this, like last week? Yes, I have a problem. I can't help it. I LOVE BOOKS!

So what, you may be asking, does this have to do with the title of this post—Storystorm? Storystorm is this thing in picture book land where picture book writers gather (virtually) over on Tara Lazar's blog and support one another as we each come up with a picture book idea for every day during an entire month. I have no idea how many years I've participated in Storystorm (used to be called PIBOIDMO). I will not go back and look because that will make me feel like I am getting old too fast. Let's just say it's many. And the practice has not only helped me come up with many fun ideas during the month it takes place, it also has taught me to cultivate ideas all year long. And it has to do with my enormously large pile of to-read books because just like books, I have WAY TOO MANY IDEAS!

But joking aside, I actually like having too many books and too many ideas. The abundance of these things matters. I've heard it said that you only need one good idea. Sure. And I suppose I'm supposed to feel satisfied with one book too?

I make my best work when I throw my perfectionism out the window and aim for quantity over quality. Yes, I want quality—but I find that it comes only from vigorous practice. And that vigorous practice only comes from a spirit of quantity. Quantity helps me achieve quality.

This is true especially with ideas. The more ideas I come up with, the more I find the ideas to be interesting. It never fails.

So here's my annual cheers to another month of brainstorming ideas with Storystorm! And while I'm at it I'll raise my glass to brainstorming of all kinds—where quantity cultivates quality. And also I'll raise my glass to the giant mountains of books that are waiting to be read, in my house, in my library, and in my local bookstore. Is there anything better?

Cheers to abundant possibility!

...And a Happy New Year! (or how I'll make picture book Pinterest boards this coming year)

I don't know about you, but one of my favorite parts of this time of year is snuggling in on a cold day (here in the Northwest that usually means a rainy day) with a good book.

Recently, while I was reading my usual gigantic stack of picture books that I had checked out from the library, I was feeling grateful for librarians, writers, and reviewers who take the time to make the recommended-reading lists I often seek out when I'm figuring which picture books to check out.

I love all the best-of-year book lists that take place this time of year, and I always love the mock Caldecott lists, and of course I love various book review lists. But I also love when bloggers and reviewers make to-read lists that are more specific and quirky. Like the to-read lists I look for more as a parent: favorite train books, books about the ocean, books for kids who love purple. These are examples of just a few of the searches I've done myself. Because often when I'm looking for the perfect book for a particular kid of picture book age, I'm also thinking about what they like and what draws them in from a pure hook standpoint. And sometimes best-of to-read lists don't quite hit that mark. 

It's a small drop in the sea but I decided that perhaps I might like to cultivate some of my own picture book to-read lists for others who are seeking suggestions too. The more specific kinds of to-read lists like I enjoy finding.

So in the coming year, roughly every month, as part of my reading practice anyway, I'm going to curate a fresh picture book to-read list (of books I've already read) with some kind of quirky focus I think might be helpful for anyone out there who is seeking such a thing. I've decided to do so on Pinterest boards because I like the way I can add to the boards whenever I find a new title and I like the idea of the boards being easy to change if I think of something new. Because how many times has a friend asked me for a suggestion for a book for their kid and even while I gave them a decent to-read list, later I thought of other books that would have been perfect additions.

I don't promise these to-read lists will be perfect or complete, just some favorites for whoever out there looks for these kinds of lists like I do. And as a start I've recently made two new boards with favorites of two kinds of picture books I can't ever seem to get enough of:

Funny picture books

and

Picture book sing-longs (or picture books with songs). Enjoy!

Happy reading and happy holidays everyone!

Bookshelves bookshelves bookshelves

Show and tell time.

These are my family's new bookshelves:

Ahhhhhhh.

I LOVE them. 

Please note all the picture book shelves. And the face-out picture book rack on the wall to the left of the shelves. I am a proud picture book hoarder. I feel that this is a very fine thing. I have a five-year-old afterall (or maybe, yes, that 's just an excuse...).

Also! These awesome bookshelves do not stand alone.

How about some bookshelves just for all our handmade journals and photo albums?

Are two shelves too many? How about three? How about one for the wall? Face out!

Or maybe four?

Aren't these shelves AWESOME?

They are like half-tables stacked on top of one another.

 Dreamy!

Now, how about some handmade shelves by yours truly (and my crafty sister):

Patchwork bookshelves for the nook at the top of my stairs.

 Because every crafty lady should try DECOUPAGE at some point.

 Here's the shelves right after I hung them, before I filled them up. My son helped me. He loves helping mommy with projects.

 As long as said projects don't involve trips to the craft store.

Is it embarrassing to realize that this little list does not include the bookshelves in my studio? Or my bedroom? or the one downstairs for cookbooks? I mean, is that too many? Too many bookshelves?

NO SUCH THING!

In fact, how about I just add pictures of those shelves too. Why not?

Studio shelves, complete with flying pig light

Cookbooks under the T.V. Wouldn't we rather be reading anyway?

This one houses journals I'm still filling.

BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS!

"I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves."

-Anna Quindlen (from an article in the NYT)

Alright. Enough already. Go read a book.

The Joy of Real Books

I found this awesome video via flavorwire last week and couldn't resist sharing. I hope it brings a smile to your face, too.


For the record, last year I read (or listened to):

• 35 audio books

• 8 kindle/e-books

• 21 paperbacks

and

• 37 hardbacks

(not counting picture books).

I hope I'm still allowed to love real books (and bookstores) most, even if I listen to that many audio books and I do buy some e-books in the mix...

The note that greeted me when I walked into my condo at 4 am after more than 24 hours of travel

When I saw the note, I felt like someone had given me a little blue ribbon.
"Congratulations, Kjersten. You are helping your kid to love reading."
So, pat on the back for me.
There are few successes in life that I imagine I'd relish more.

Colorful Snippets From Singapore

I spent most of last Saturday at the Asian Festival of Children's content in Singapore (the rest of the weekend I spent admiring colorful places -- easy to find in Singapore -- as evidenced from these photos).
I left the festival and Singapore feeling a bit dazed at what a big wide world we live in, with a mind-boggling array of differences in children' s book markets.
I also had many strange moments of seeing things from a different perspective regarding the children's book market back home in the United States.
One speaker, when talking about why small publishers and authors should have promotional materials in English, said something to the effect of, "Everyone thinks the U.S. is the Holy Grail of Children's book markets. Break in there and you can make it anywhere. Then why don't all small publishers and authors have their promo materials in English?"

It was strange to think about challenges some of my colleagues have here compared to those of my colleagues at home.

I'm so used to various speakers moaning and groaning about the state of the market back home that I forget sometimes to remember how wide and big it actually is compared to other markets.
I also had some culture shock moments, like the nervous twitch I had going when one speaker mentioned that art-based picture books have little market in many parts of Asia as many parents are still focused on Education based books.

I tried just now to write about some recent experience with this mindset that would cause such a nervous twitch, but well, the politically correct public blogger who's afraid of closing my mind when it should be open won out and I edited. Let's just say this is something that I'm having a hard time relating to when I encounter it here, not only as an author and artist, but most especially as a mother.
So I had a nervous twitch going through some of the conference. I had many reminders that we are a big world with lots of view points. It's a challenge to keep it all in perspective, be respectful to differences while remaining true to my own heart while working on my own craft (and mothering my son).
But, lest I forget, challenges are the colorful rich stuff of life. And I can appreciate their beauty.

Yay for J.C. Phillipps!

Have you read this book yet?
It's called Wink: The Ninja Who Wanted to be Noticed by J.C. Phillipps.

It’s about a spirited young Ninja named Wink who is anything but stealth – he is a ham in fact. I especially love the part where Wink dresses up in a ninja costume made from his grandma’s pink floral curtains. I WANT that ninja costume.

Anyway, I'm a big fan and so this past fall when I was lucky enough to win a critique through a charity auction from Wink’s author/illustrator, I was thrilled.

And not only did J.C. Phillipps offer me helpful advice for the story I sent her, she also agreed to answer some interview questions about her work for the SCBWI Western Washington’s upcoming printed Chinook newsletter!

So because the newsletter will be coming out soon, I thought it might be fun to also give her a shout out here on my blog. If you haven’t read her book, go check it out. Also, take a peek at her website and her blog. I especially love the studio tour video she has put up on her website. And I love the recent posts on her blog regarding her process.

Thanks for the critique and interview, Julie! But most especially thanks for the great book! I can’t wait until your next one comes out.

A simple first at the Library

Yesterday I went to the library with my two-year-old son, Oscar. He picked out a book for me to read to him.

Mid-way through he said: "I don't like this book."

Me: "I don't either, do you want to pick out another one?"

O: "No. Let's finish it."
[I proceed to read more]

Two pages from the end, O: "I don't like this book."

Me: "Should I stop reading it? Do you want another one?"

O: "Hmm. yes. Here, I'll put that back on the shelf." [puts book on top of the shelf, turns back to me.] "Do they have any books with buses?"

Me: "Probably, maybe we should ask."

O: "O-tay. I'll do it all by myself." [he walks up to the counter, careful to make sure I wasn't following him too closely -- "No Mommy, I'm doing it all by myself!"]

At the counter, Bethany (Children's librarian extraordinaire): "Hi, Oscar, what's up?"

O: "Do you have any books with buses?"

Bethany: "Let me check the computer to see what's in. [checks] Yes we do! A school bus book just came in. Should I get it for you from the back?"

O: "O-tay."
[Bethany goes to the back and gets a book, comes back with a Donald Crews Book about school buses -- this woman knows her books.]

O: [smiles big at the school bus book]

Bethany: "Will this one work?"

Still with a big smile on his face, O: "I'll take it!"
[Gives Bethany the library card that I gave him while she was retrieving the book, Bethany checks out the book. O turns back to me hugging his book.]

O: "I did it all by myself!" [Big toothy grin on both his face and Bethany's. ]


Life does not get better than this.

I heart Village Books

I've been stocking up on books to take with me to Malaysia. Apparently there are no libraries where I'm going.
So I've been hanging out a lot at my local indie book store, possibly the best local indie book store north of Powells in Portland:
Village Books.
Village Books has been named the best book store in Western Washington and for good reason. Three stories of awesome independent book store glory. Fantastic literature live events. Great service. And a sweet reader rewards club. Also there's a cafe on the top story with a cozy fireplace and sweeping views of Bellingham Bay. Life does not get much better than hanging out at Village Books.
These photos are from the walls just outside VB's front doors. So there's my plug. If you want to see VB for yourself, you'll have to come to Bellingham. And VB would be worth the trip alone.

I heart you, Village Books

"This COLOR Thing Rocks"

Okay I normally don't book reviews here, and I'm not going to start anything like that now. But...

I heart every book Antoinette Portis has ever made and I especially love that my son loves them and I also especially love her new book, A Penguin Story. Deep breath. There. I got that off my chest.

So when I saw a video of Antoinette Portis talking about A Penguin Story and she said the very true and true-to-my-heart words, "This COLOR thing rocks," I decided to blubber on like an idiot here and share the link to the video (Amazon won't let me embed the video here or I would) because I have a thing for color and people who are passionate about it.

If you haven't read these books, you are in for a treat:

Not A Box,
Not A Stick,
and
A Penguin Story,

They are picture books at their best. Go check them out.

Happy Birthday Very Hungry Caterpillar

Eric Carle's VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR turned 40 last Friday!

I found out about it on the Allen County Public Library's Mock Caldecott Website (I love this website -- the ACPL has been doing a mock Caldecott for many years and their reading list is always a fantastic overview of the best picture books of the year).

So I interupt my Spain posts (which will keep coming, trust me, I've got a bunch lined up and ready to go) to celebrate an author/illustrator that is especially dear to me, Eric Carle...

Here's some really awesome Eric Carle things you should check out:

1. He made this video to celebrate the Very Hungry Caterpillar's 40th birthday!
2. His BLOG! I love it.
3. The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. I so want to go there.

How Eric Carle has influenced me:

In 2006, the Tacoma Art Museum featured an art exhibit with Eric Carle originals. I also went to hear Eric Carle speak when he came as part of the Seattle Arts and Lectures the same year (a promotion for the TAM exhibit). Together, the events were transformative for me. As I watched a video of Eric Carle making his work at the museum I felt cartoony lighbulbs light up above my head. There were so many small things he was doing that I could see appling to my own work -- right where I was struggling, too. I bought the video from the bookstore and have watched it many times since.

The top two things Eric Carle helped me with:
-Loosening up my drawing: he draws FAST. Sometimes when I'm really struggling with something I channel Eric Carle. What would Eric Carle do? He wouldn't agonize, he would just draw whatever quickly and from the heart. So I try drawing quickly. It helps.
-The way he lays down his collage using a template. Alleluia choruses went off in my head the first time I saw him do this in the video. He inspired me to develop my own template technique and it has expanded what I can do with collage about 50-fold. THANK YOU ERIC CARLE!

But back to the exhibit and the lecture. Even better than the exhibit, honestly, was hearing Eric Carle interact with the kids who had come to hear him speak at the lecture. He listened to their questions so intently. He got to the heart of their questions and answered so sincerely. I write and illustrate because of that kind of heart -- both his and theirs.

After the talk Eric Carle signed books. Even though I was basketball-sized pregnant at the time I put myself at the end of the line. If he ran out of time, I didn't want him to run out of time for the kids. One of the very last books he signed for the evening was my son's baby book (which was empty and new at the time but now is full to the seams and is one of my most beloved journals):

P.S. My own personal favorite Eric Carle Book is LITTLE CLOUD:

Happy Birthday, VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR!

I'm a Dedicated Reader

Sometimes I can't help but take these kinds of tests when I see them on the internet, tempting me away from whatever correspondence has brought me to the computer in the first place. I'm shy. Correspondence can sometimes be something to procrastinate doing.

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader   You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Literate Good Citizen
Book Snob
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Now. Back to my art!